


Only One Bed: A Compilation of Fanfic-Inspired RPGs

by bottomlessblue



Category: No Fandom, Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: 5 Times, 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Crack, Drabble, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Love Triangles, Multi, RPG, Roleplaying game, Secret Santa, Tabletop RPG, Weddings, Zombie Apocalypse, game, indie RPG
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 09:18:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18070661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottomlessblue/pseuds/bottomlessblue
Summary: A compilation of tabletop, pen-and-paper roleplaying games inspired by my favorite fanfic tropes - all WIP





	1. Five Times This Happened and One Time It Didn't

“Five Times X Happened and One Time it Didn’t” (or the inverse) is a fairly common fanfic format, used to explore multiple possibilities, themes, and tones surrounding a single event. Unfortunately, I think it may be waning in popularity; I don’t see nearly as many new fics published with this format as I used to. That’s a crying shame, because I think it’s one of the best inventions of modern literature, no exaggeration.

You might see it structured like:  
Five Times JT Survived and One Time He Didn’t  
Five Times Kel Kissed Cleon and One Time She Kissed Neal  
Five Times Harry Kissed Draco and One Time He Kissed Back

The key to this format is inversion and exploration. That sixth time - the one time it didn’t - has to be different from the first five times in some key way. Often this is done through tone - the first five times might be lighthearted comedies (this format comes up a lot in crackfic), while the sixth time is a dark tragedy. Or it might be in the circumstances - the first five times might be something that didn’t happen in canon, while the sixth time is a perspective on what actually happened (as in the case of the above Five Times JT Survived).

The format is about exploring possibilities - six different times a couple might share their first kiss, six different times they meet or break up, six different times someone dies. The circumstances change the emotional core of the event, which is what this game is all about.

What You’ll Need:  
2 players (yourself and a friend, or you can coordinate the game for 2 friends)  
Index cards  
Pens or pencils  
A 6-sided die  
8 tokens or coins for scoring

How to Play:  
First, determine what fandom and what characters you want to play for this game. It’s important to pick something that your and your partner both know reasonably well.   
Ex. Abby and Katie decide they want to play Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, since they both love the Holmes canon mystery stories. Abby will play Sherlock himself, while Katie will play John.

You will also need to determine what the event IS that does and doesn’t happen during this game. Below is a list of six common choices from fanfic writers - if you can’t decide, roll that 6-sided die and let chance choose for you!

d6  
Event  
d6  
Event  
1  
First kiss  
4  
Character says “I love you”  
2  
Death of a character  
5  
Tries to propose  
3  
Last kiss  
6  
Hide their relationship

If it isn’t inherent in the prompt, you’ll also want to take this time and determine your intended tone for the game. It’s common for the final iteration to be different in tone than the others, but not necessary. If you would like to roll randomly for this as well, use the table below.

d6  
Tone  
1  
All tragic or serious  
2-3  
Five comedic or light and one tragic or serious  
4-5  
Five tragic or serious and one comedic or light  
6  
All comedic or light

Just to make sure that everyone is on the same page, write these on an index card and place it on the table where everyone can see it. If you’re playing online, just put it into a text chat window.  
Ex. Abby, playing Sherlock, remembers that the character faked his own death at Reichenbach Falls in the story The Final Problem. She suggests to Katie that they play out Five Times Sherlock Holmes Almost Died and One Time He Did. Katie agrees, and believes that the five times should be comedic or light in tone, while the “one time he did” should obviously be tragic.

Next, you’ll need to write out the first five scenarios - remember the one where it didn’t will always be last. Just a quick note on an index card, one per scene, will be sufficient. You might want to pick different locales where this happens, different NPCs who are involved, etc. Try to make sure they aren’t too repetitive. Number these 1 through 5 to determine play order.  
Ex. Abby and Katie together write down five scenarios: protecting Irene Adler from thugs; arrested by Lestrade; poison dart from a suspect; attacked by the Hound of the Baskervilles; plummet down Reichenbach Falls with Professor Moriarty.

Once this is settled, both players will take an index card and write something down in secret, folding the card so that the other player can’t see it. Both players should write down something that could happen during the scene but that isn’t a guarantee - something that would change the scope of the first scene, or end it prematurely.  
Ex. Katie, knowing that John Watson is the more capable fighter, writes down “Watson gets knocked unconscious.” Abby, knowing of Sherlock’s infatuation with Irene, writes “Irene Adler kisses Holmes.” Both keep their cards secret from the other.

When you are ready to begin roleplaying the first scene, pick a “lead” player. This will alternate each round, so each player will get to be the lead for three scenes. The lead player sets up the scene, describing the setting and the background. If there are disputes on anything, the lead player is the final arbiter for that round.

Each player should avoid introducing the story element written on their secret card. If the other player introduces that element, the scene ends immediately and is not resolved. If the scene is completed successfully - the “five times” element is introduced - then the players score a point and place a token on the index card for that scene. If the scene is ended early and is not completed, no point is scored.

[full play example]

Repeat for the next four scenes. Replace your secret cards for each scene. When a scene is over, feel free to reveal or hide the secret card as you wish. Don’t determine the final scene until after these five scenes are played out. This final scene is worth three points, compared to the other scenes being worth one.   
Ex. After playing through their five scenes - completing three and inadvertently ending two early - Katie and Abby agree on what would be a good tragic final scene. Solemnly, Abby writes “old age” on the index card. Both players write down new secret cards and begin to play.

[full play example]

When the final scene is complete, take a moment and breathe. Talk about the things you liked and didn’t like during the game. Talk about what happened and how it made you feel. This can be a good emotional catharsis after a tragic scene, or a great way to cement the memories after a comedic one.

When you’re ready, count up the number of tokens you used and check the scoring matrix below to see how you did, and the fate of your characters.

0: Have these characters ever even met? They surely do not end up together, and may never speak to each other again. Fate has ordained that it is not to be - and it never shall.

1: Well that’s no good. Have you ever had a really, intensely awkward kiss? That’s what these characters feel like all the time.

2: Better luck next time. Outlook not so good. My sources say no. Don’t count on it. It’s like shaking a fortune teller ball and only getting the bad answers... but not setting the ball down, either.

3: So close and yet so far. If only things had played out a little differently... is it worth another try? Only you can say...

4: It could be worse, it could be better. Are you sure they’re not better off as friends? Well, maybe it’s just a slow burn.

5: Sure they have their ups and downs, but it’s more ups than downs, and who can complain about that? There’s always time to make it better later...

6: Like putting on your most comfortable clothes, or drinking your favorite tea - comforting, pleasant, and always mood-brightening. That’s how your characters feel.

7: Those crazy kids, they’re sure to make it work no matter what! With chemistry like theirs, who could possibly get in their way?

8: Love, true love! No matter what the stars may throw at them, no matter what cards the gods may play, nothing - and I mean nothing - can interfere with true love and a happy ending.


	2. Crackfic

“Crackfic” is a fanfiction term referring to intentionally bizarre or off-the-wall stories, things that typically include: a ludicrous number of fandoms crossed-over, events that are unbelievable within the context of the setting, relationships that are ridiculously over-exaggerated or implausible. They’re usually intended to be comedic, and can be written to give the author a breather between writing longer, more serious stories.

Some will say that really bad fic - REALLY bad fic - can be crackfic, if it’s believed that the author intended to write something bad. That’s a fine definition too, but it can be really hard to tell the difference between intentionally, stylistically bad fanfic and fanfic written by an unskilled author. More than ten years later, we still don’t really know if the 2006 fanfic My Immortal - a notoriously bad fic, exemplifying and codifying many of the negative stereotypes about fanfic - is fake or real.

Some examples you might see around:  
Disco Balls (Thomas the Tank Engine x Daft Punk smut fic)  
The Parting: Alternate Ending (Thranduil x Smaug)  
Golfing Gone Wrong (modern!AU Hamilton, Washington, and Jefferson)  
I Am Groot (“extremely NSFW fic told from the perspective of Groot”)

This game is about making your own crackfic, essentially, including the multiple crossovers part. The point is to go over-the-top, off-the-wall, suspend ALL your disbelief. This is where those safety tools really come in handy.

What You’ll Need:  
Between 2 and 5 players, not including the GM (you can use more, but I wouldn’t recommend that for new GMs)  
Index cards  
Pens or pencils  
A number of d6s equal to the number of players  
A set of d% dice (or two D10s - designate one as the first digit and one as the second digit)

How to Play:  
First, you’ll have to roll randomly for the setting of your crackfic, your characters, and your objective. You can use the random fandoms table at the back of this book, or pick your own.  
Ex. Abby, Katie, Sam, and Zack all sit down to play Crackfic and decide to roll randomly for their fandom selection. First, Abby rolls a 38 and determines that they’re going to use the setting of the Harry Potter world of wizardry. Katie rolls a 67 and determines that they’re going to use the characters of Sherlock Holmes. Sam rolls an 84 and determines that their objective is from The Legend of Zelda. They interpret that this means obtaining a triforce.

Everyone should pick a character from the source material - if you have more than four players, you can pick characters from the source material for the setting as well. Write these down on index cards for each player, and write the objective and setting on a card in the middle of the table, where everyone can see.  
Ex. Abby writes down “Sherlock Holmes”. Katie writes down “John Watson”. Sam writes down “Inspector Lestrade.” Zack writes down “Find a triforce in the world of Harry Potter”. 

Each player should write down three attributes of their character, three key things that distinguish them from the other characters. These can be positive, negative, or neutral attributes.  
Ex. For the character of Sherlock, Abby writes down these attributes: “highly intelligent”, “socially inept”, and “addict”. 

The GM should set the scene for where the game begins; they can use the time while the other players are figuring out their characters to jot down some notes. They shouldn’t worry about setting up anything in too much detail, or planning things out too far in advance. Just some notes on where the game starts and how the objective might be resolved.  
Ex. While everyone else is figuring out their characters, Zack writes a few notes on an index cards. “Characters board the wrong train at King’s Cross; are taken to Hogwarts. Dumbledore says they need the triforce to get back to London. Triforce can be made only in Snape’s Potions class.”

From here, play can begin with the GM setting the scene and the players performing actions. Whenever there is an action that is not a guaranteed success have the player roll a d6. Use the table below to determine their degree of success or failure. If one of the character’s attributes could assist or hinder them in their effort, add a +1 or -1 to the roll as appropriate.

Number  
Result  
1  
“No, and” - the action fails and something else bad happens  
2-3  
“No, but” - the action fails, but something else good happens  
4-5  
“Yes, but” - the action succeeds, but something else bad happens  
6  
“Yes, and” - the actions succeeds and something else good happens

The entire table can provide suggestions as to the “something else” that happens as a result of the roll, but the final decision is up to the GM. Just remember the general guideline that something good should typically move you closer to your objective and something bad should typically move you farther away or put more obstacles in your path.

Ex. Katie, as John Watson, tries to hop a moving train - the Hogwarts Express, specifically. Because one of his attributes is his “war wound”, Zack gives the roll a -1. Katie rolls a 4 on the die, leaving her with a 3 as her total result. Zack determines that John does not successfully board the train, and asks the group for suggestions as to what good thing happens. Abby suggests that his scarf gets caught, leaving it easier for Sherlock to attempt the jump. Zack agrees, and gives Abby +1 on her roll to board the train.

The game ends when:  
The objective is completed  
Some other, funnier objective is found and completed  
All the characters die hilarious deaths, as is often the case in crackfic (if you want to go this route, discuss it with the table first)


	3. Alternate Universe

Alternate Universes are a common fanfic trope where you take the characters, and often the basis premise, of a published work and transplant it into a different setting. Settings can vary wildly - some of the most popular “AU”s are coffee shops, florist shops, high school, worlds where soulmates exist, modern AUs for things with historical settings, historical AUs for modern works, and so on.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell when an AU will get popular or not - to this day, I’m not clear on why “all the characters are the same but they work at Starbucks” is such a popular phenomenon. But something about it ignites the general fandom consciousness and it spreads like wildfire. Alternate Universes are about how characters and their archetypes stay the same across worlds - Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty might look very different if they were in high school, but one can safely assume they’d still be highly-intelligent archfoes. 

It’s a blending of the familiar with the unfamiliar - or with the differently familiar. Maybe the reason coffee shop AUs are so popular is because, well, a lot of people work in coffee shops, and that’s one way for them to write what they know.

What You’ll Need:  
Two players (this can include yourself, or not - you can coordinate the game for two others, if you want)  
Index cards (you might want A LOT of them)  
Pens or pencils  
A large amount of table space, depending on how long and in-depth you want the game to be  
A token or coin (optional)

How to Play:  
First, take an index card and write “Universal Constants” at the top. These are the things that won’t change, no matter how wild your AU becomes, no matter how far from canon you go. This might be characterization or it might be things that you particularly love about the original and don’t want to change. Take turns passing the card back and forth until you don’t have anything else you want to add.  
Ex. Abby writes “Sherlock is a genius” at the top of the Universal Constants list. She passes the card to Katie, who adds “John and Sherlock love each other.” They continue to add to the list, including things like “Sherlock is an addict”, “Moriarty is the villain”, and “it takes place in London”.

Then decide on what type of AU you want to explore. You might go into the game already having an idea, but discuss it in earnest here. Decide what type of things fit with what you’ve determined the Universal Constants to be. Write this down on another index card, if you want.  
Ex. Abby first suggests a far-future outer space AU, but Katie reminds her that they had put “takes place in London” on the list of Universal Constants. Katie counter-suggests a high school AU. Abby thinks this sounds fun, and agrees.

Together, decide what the “starting point” of your AU will be. This is the point that the story will “begin”, though you will bounce back and forth through time periods. Do the same for the “end point”. Write these down on two index cards and place them at opposite ends of the table.  
Ex. Abby and Katie decide that the natural start and end points of their story are “first day of high school” and “graduation day”. This gives them a four year time-span to work with.

Divide your timeline into whatever number of sections makes sense. Place a card in the timeline for each section, in chronological order. If your time-span is hundreds of years (immortal AU!), this could be at the level of centuries, even. It could be at the level of mere days. For advanced players, you could choose to play out scenes that take place across one single day.  
Ex. Katie takes four index cards. On them, she writes “freshman year”, “sophomore year”, “junior year”, and “senior year”. She places them in order, with freshman year closest to the first day of school and senior year closest to graduation day.

Take turns placing index cards that represent single days or moments within the larger timespans. Go back and forth until there are ten “days” on index cards. It’s okay if they aren’t evenly distributed; there may be a point in time that you want to explore more than another! There’s nothing wrong with that.  
Ex. Abby writes down “final exams” and places the card below the freshman year card on the table. Katie writes down “prom” and places the card below the senior year card on the table. Abby writes down “driver’s ed.” and places the card below the junior year card on the table. Katies writes down “college applications” and places the card below the junior year card on the table. They continue until they have ten moments.

Pick a first player (flip a coin, if you want). The first player will pick one of the ten moments that they want to explore. Both players pick who they want to play in that scene - you can keep the same characters for the entire game, or you can switch back and forth, if that suits your fancy. Roleplay the scene, or a part of the scene if it’s a large one. When the scene is done, jot down a note on the relevant card saying what you’ve played.  
Ex. Abby is selected as the first player and decides she wants to roleplay a scene from prom, specifically when John asks Sherlock to be his date to the prom. Katie volunteers to play John, and Abby agrees to play Sherlock.  
[full play example]  
When they’re done, Abby writes down “promposal” on the prom card.

The player who picked that scene then writes down another moment on a separate index card, and adds it anywhere to the timeline. It doesn’t need to be related to the scene that was just played, but it might very well be inspired by that.  
Ex. Abby writes down “homecoming dance” on an index card and adds it to the cards under junior year.

Repeat, with the other player now picking the scene to roleplay and placing a new card at the end.

This is an open-ended game - it ends when you feel it should end. Perhaps with the climactic kiss at prom, or way back at the moment they first met. Try to find an emotionally resonant note to close on, or something that brings your story full circle. 

Or, if you want, the game doesn’t need to end. You can number the index cards, or take a picture of their layout on the table. Stack the cards and put them somewhere they won’t get lost, and lay them back out again the next time you want to play.


	4. Drabbles

“Drabbles” is a term for a very short piece of writing, like flash fiction. The common definition is 100 words or less - some people are more restrictive with it, some less so. I personally tend to think that most short fic can be called a drabble, up to maybe 500 words. Of course, when you’re playing an RPG - especially in-person, speaking out loud - who wants to count words like that? 

Drabbles are most commonly seen in “drabble contests”, where all participants are given a shared fandom (or even a shared pairing), and a shared theme. You might see some of the below examples as common ones:  
Johnlock (Sherlock - BBC) theme: Christmas  
Harry Potter - theme: comedy  
Star Trek - theme: modern AU

In this game, you will make your own drabble challenge - each player will attempt to tell a drabble-type story along the same theme, while accepting or refusing bonus challenges from other players.

What You’ll Need:  
Between 3 and 12 players, including yourself  
A deck of playing cards  
Printed copies of the Story Challenge table and the player reference cards  
Tokens or coins (I like to use foil-wrapped chocolate coins, for extra fun!) - at least three per player  
Index cards

How to Play:  
Sit down at the table and either pick a fandom or pick a theme - if everyone at the table is well-acquainted with the fandom, you can pick both. This fandom or theme will be the focal point for the first loop around the table. For example, you might pick Star Wars as the fandom and keep the theme open, or you might pick Christmas as the theme but everyone can pick their own fandoms.

Deal every player a hand of three playing cards; make sure everyone keeps their hand secret from everyone else. Distribute three coins to everyone as well - this is where using the chocolate ones can be tricky, because you can’t eat them yet!

Nominate a first player - this player will be the first to begin their “drabble” or their story. Give them a few minutes to brainstorm, if needed. The story should be told in the first person, from the point-of-view of one of the characters. The full telling of the story should take 3-5 minutes, on average.

After the first player has begun their story, the other players can begin issuing challenges to them, using the cards in their hand and their coins. A player who wants to issue a challenge must consult their hand of cards and the table on the next page. They pick a card from their hand and challenge the current storyteller to include that element in their story, offering with it one of their coins.

The storyteller can accept the challenge, in which case they accept the coin and the card. They then must find a way to weave that story element into their current story. They can also choose to refuse the challenge, in which case the challenger discards the card and keeps the coin. New cards are not drawn until the next round begins. Storytellers can accept or refuse any number of challenges. If desired, a player can make their challenge using two cards and two coins to serve as a “wildcard” and can suggest anything from the random table or that they made up themselves.

When the first storyteller concludes their tale, the player to their left becomes the next storyteller. Play then proceeds as with the first turn, until everyone has had a chance to tell a story. Challengers can use coins that they earned during their stint as storyteller to make challenges against other players.

It may be helpful to keep a sand timer on the table, or use a phone timer, if you have a group that may be prone to rambling. If any storyteller has gone on too long, gently remind them of the time suggestion. If more than one player goes on too long in a given round, start enforcing the time constraints in the next round, imposing a hard stop when a timer runs out. 

At the end of the round, each player makes a suggestion for the fandom/theme for the next round, writing it down on an index card. Then, everyone uses their remaining coins to vote on the suggestions. You can split your vote however you want (for example, if you have three coins left at the end of the round, you can put two votes in for the theme of Harry Potter and one vote for the theme of dancing). 

In case of a tie, every player in the next round can pick which one they want to use for their story, announcing it before they begin.

A suggested game is between three and five rounds, depending on your number of players. With only three players, as many as ten rounds could pass very quickly. With a full twelve players, two rounds could take all night.

 

Joker  
Wild - pick your own!  
A♠  
Someone dies  
K♠  
Something is lost  
Q♠  
Someone cries  
J♠  
Something is found  
10♠  
Someone quits  
9♠  
Someone is on fire  
8♠  
Something is stolen  
7♠  
Something is broken  
6♠  
Someone falls in love  
5♠  
Someone begs  
4♠  
Someone makes a plan  
3♠  
Something is not what it appears  
2♠  
Someone strikes gold

 

A♥  
A kiss  
K♥  
A rose  
Q♥  
A ring  
J♥  
A party  
10♥  
A message  
9♥  
A dress  
8♥  
A storm  
7♥  
A mask  
6♥  
A holiday  
5♥  
A scream  
4♥  
A date  
3♥  
A warrant  
2♥  
A corpse

 

A♦  
An enemy  
K♦  
A lover  
Q♦  
A killer  
J♦  
A student  
10♦  
A rival  
9♦  
A child  
8♦  
A parent  
7♦  
A fighter  
6♦  
A stranger  
5♦  
A thief  
4♦  
A sibling  
3♦  
A friend  
2♦  
A leader

 

A♣  
Someone is cursed  
K♣  
Something is doomed  
Q♣  
Someone is lying  
J♣  
Someone is out of time  
10♣  
Someone loses their nerve  
9♣  
Something is invented  
8♣  
Someone gets bad news  
7♣  
Someone grows  
6♣  
Someone has a fight  
5♣  
Something is thrown away  
4♣  
Someone learns a lesson  
3♣  
Something is given  
2♣  
Someone kisses someone else

Player Reference:  
Decide on a fandom and/or theme  
Deal 3 cards and 3 coins to each player  
Pick a first player  
First player begins telling their story  
Other players issue challenges using 1 card and 1 coin  
Wildcard challenges can be made using 2 cards and 2 coins  
Play passes clockwise when story is done  
When everyone has told a story, each player makes a suggestion for next theme  
Use coins to vote on theme of next round


	5. Enemies to Lovers (with Fake Dating variant rules)

“Enemies to lovers” or “friends to lovers” is a common style of fanfic that explores the growth and change of a relationship over time between two characters. Take two characters that start off as enemies or rivals and slowly build their relationship into true love. Not coincidentally, this type of fanfiction often overlaps with “slow burn”, where something develops well, slowly, across a very long story. 

The satisfying pay-off at the end is a big factor in the success of this kind of fanfiction, especially when it’s slow burn. The gradual build-up of tension over time is key. The other major factor is the change in the relationship, not just from enemies to lovers, but all the intermediate phases in between. How the same two people interact as rivals, as acquaintances, as friends, as true partners - it can be a deep exploration of their characterization individually and together.

This game will do the same, with a back-and-forth element in the relationship, as you work to bring your relationship closer to lovers... or back to enemies.

What You’ll Need:  
2 players (including yourself, or not - you can coordinate the game for two other players, if you wish)  
Pens or pencils  
Index cards  
Tokens or coins, a large number of them

How to Play:  
First, pick what fandom and which two characters you want to play. I do recommend starting with two who are enemies, but the more charismatic the relationship the better. They don’t even have to be ones who could plausibly end up together in canon - sometimes exploring the implausible is even more fun than working within the realms of reason.

Both players will write down five scenarios for these two characters on index cards, one situation per card. They can and should talk during this process, to make sure they aren’t coming up with duplicates. Shuffle the cards and place them face down in a stack, so neither player can see what order the cards will come up in.

On an index card between the two of you, write “enemies”. This card will remain face-up throughout the game, but you will be changing the text on it. Each player will also get a private index card, which they will keep hidden from the other player. At the start of the game, these should be blank. 

There are five options that can be written on the public card and on your own private cards:  
Enemies  
Acquaintances  
Friends  
Partners  
Lovers

As scenes play out, you can update your own private card at any time; you may even change it more than once within the same scene. The public card may only be changed at the end of a scene. 

Decide if you want to play a shorter game or a longer game. Decide now if you want to play five scenes, seven scenes, or ten scenes. If you decide to do ten scenes, you may also choose to create an 11th scenario card and shuffle that into the scenario pile. 

When you’re ready to begin, draw a card from the pile. Play out the scene as described, keeping in mind how your character will feel about the other based on the public card and the private card. If the public card says “enemies” and your own private card says “friends”, they are likely to act differently than if it was the other way around.

Actions taken during scenes will generate “heat”. Heat is any kind of strong emotion towards each other - anywhere from hatred to love. Both positive and negative interactions generate heat. Below is the table of examples that generate heat. If events come up that aren’t on the table, use your best judgment as to how much it should be worth. Feel free to adjust as makes sense for your characters.

# of Heat  
Positive  
Negative  
1  
A sincere compliment  
Disagreement, a minor argument  
2  
A kind gesture, doing a favor for them  
Insulting them  
3  
Giving a gift, boosting their morale  
Ignoring them  
4  
Protecting them, letting your guard down with them  
Mocking them, leaving them, preventing them from acting  
5  
A kiss, trusting them with a secret  
A fight, getting caught in a lie, violence

 

Repeat for the number of scenes you agreed upon at the start of the game. Between scenes, you can spend heat as follows. Each player gets one expenditure of heat in each interlude - alternate who goes first each scene. If the heat pool is empty at the end of the scene, none of these actions can take place. If the first player uses all the remaining heat, the second player forgoes their action.

# of Heat  
Actions  
1  
Say one additional sentence to them in character after the scene has ended (does not change the amount of heat generated)  
2  
Reveal your own private card without looking at theirs  
3  
Look at their private card without revealing your own  
4  
Change one thing that happened during the previous scene (does not change the amount of heat generated)  
5  
Change the level of the public card without revealing private cards

If one private card is revealed and it matches the other player’s private card, the public card is updated to reflect that - if both characters privately feel that they are friends rather than enemies, that becomes their public relationship. 

If at any time the pool of heat points reaches 20, both players immediately reveal their private cards, move the public card up one level (ie, from acquaintances to friends, or partners to lovers). The heat pool is then wiped out and both of the private cards are then erased and set back to blank.

At the end of the final scene, players can make one last adjustment to their private and public cards, using heat. 

Variant Rules: Fake Dating

An optional variant for this game is “Fake Dating”, which is a common fanfiction trope where a couple must pretend to date - for one reason or another - and it may or may not turn into real dating by the end of the story. 

Instead of the levels for the base game, your levels will be:  
First is “fake dating”  
Second is “playing pretend”  
Third is “a little fake, a little real”  
Fourth is “won’t admit it”  
Fifth is “real dating”

If you wish, you can keep the original enemies-to-lovers levels AND the new fake-to-real levels, playing with all of them. I do not recommend this for first time players, but after your first game, feel free to do both. They do commonly occur together in fanfiction, where the act of fake dating forces the two characters to get to know each other better.


	6. Zombie AU

One of the most popular alternate universe settings is that of the zombie apocalypse. Everything else of the source material may be the same. In the Sherlock Holmes fandom, it’s likely still set in London, it’s likely still 1895, Sherlock and Watson are still working on a mystery... but then the zombie apocalypse happens. It’s a way of amplifying the drama between characters, of raising the stakes. Sherlock and Watson might not confess their love for each other under normal circumstances, but when imminent death is on the line? Well, that changes things.

This game uses the zombie apocalypse background as a framework for exploring the relationship between your characters. This game works best with characters who have a close emotional relationship - characters who don’t know each other well might not bounce off each other in the ways that those with a strong history and a bond might. It doesn’t need to be a positive relationship, either! Mistrust and dislike make as strong an emotional reaction as friendship or love.

What You’ll Need:  
2-6 players  
Index cards  
Pens or pencils  
A timer, like a kitchen timer or a phone timer

How to Play:  
First, pick your fandom and the characters you’ll be playing within that fandom. Write the characters’ names on index cards and set them up as table tents in front of you, where everyone can read them.  
Ex. Katie and Abby decide to play the Sherlock Holmes Zombie AU. Katie writes down “Sherlock Holmes” for her character. Abby writes down “John Watson” for her character.

Take a number of index cards equal to the number of players plus two. Write “BITTEN” and “SAFE” on a number of them according to the table below. Make sure each player knows what their own card says, then put the cards face down, so no one can see what they say.

# of Players  
BITTEN  
SAFE  
2  
2  
2  
3  
2  
3  
4  
3  
3  
5  
3  
4  
6  
4  
4

The player(s) who received the “BITTEN” card(s) have been bitten by a zombie in their last encounter with the creatures. They are doomed. They will turn into a zombie or they will be destroyed. There is no cure. The player(s) who received the “SAFE” card(s) are unscathed. In two player games, it is possible that no one has been bitten or that both characters have been. No matter what, all suspect each other of hiding a zombie bite.   
Ex. As it is a two player game, Katie prepares four index cards - two that say BITTEN and two that say SAFE. She shuffles them and deals one out to herself and one to Abby. Katie peeks at her card, making sure Abby doesn’t see. It says “BITTEN”. She doesn’t know it, but Abby’s card also says BITTEN.

Sitting in a circle, put an index card between each pair of players. If there are only two players, only one index card will be placed on the table between you both. Write a brief summary of your relationship on this card, just a couple of words.  
Ex. Deciding that this Zombie AU will start after John and Sherlock have been working together for a long time, Abby and Katie agree to write “best friends, maybe more?” on their relationship card.

Each player will also have the opportunity to add a worldbuilding detail, writing it down on an index card. This can be something that has been changed by the zombie apocalypse, or something that remains the same despite the zombie apocalypse. Players must not contradict each other when establishing these details.  
Ex. Katie decides that the worldbuilding detail she wants to add is that 221B Baker Street is no longer safe, they cannot go back. Abby decides that she wants to add that the zombie plague has not spread to the Americas yet.

The game is played across a number of rounds equal to the number of players plus one, so the fewer players you have, the shorter the game will be. At the start of each round, set a timer for x minutes, one minute per player (if you have three players, each round will be three minutes long). Try not to check the timer much during the round; let it be a surprise when the timer goes off. When the timer goes off, everyone must stop talking - the discussion cannot continue past this point.

Each scene follows the setting prompt below. You can interpret them however you wish, with agreement from the other players.

Scene #  
Prompt  
1  
What went wrong when you left safety?  
2  
How can you keep going?  
3  
Will you be able to return home?  
4  
Who is upset at whom?  
5  
Where will you go next?  
6  
When did everything go wrong here?  
7  
Why do you continue onwards?

 

At the end of every round except the last, one player must turn over their “BITTEN” or “SAFE” card to reveal their fate. Silently, every player must point at the player whose card they are voting should be revealed. You may point at yourself during this vote. If you have an even number of players and the vote is tied, put it to a randomizer (roll dice, use the Chwazi app, rock-paper-scissors, etc.). The selected player reveals their card.  
Ex. After a fraught scene in which Watson broke his leg while getting supplies, both Katie and Abby point at Abby, so Abby reveals her card. It says “BITTEN”.

Discussion resumes to update the relationship cards between each set of players or add any worldbuilding details, based on what happened in the scene. Both players involved must agree to the descriptor on the relationship card. All players must agree to any additional worldbuilding details. When all cards have been updated, or determined to stay the same, start the timer for the next round.  
Ex. After some discussion, Abby suggests that Watson’s medical knowledge can slow the progression of the disease, but not halt it entirely or cure it. They write this down on an index card. They also choose not to change their relationship just yet.

By the last round, all players should have their hidden “BITTEN” or “SAFE” cards revealed. If characters were bitten, you must figure out how to handle that and how to prevent the others from being bitten. If everyone is safe, discuss how events went wrong, how to salvage it, and the fallout of your suspicions towards each other.  
Ex. After the second scene, Katie reveals that her card also says “BITTEN” on it. There is still one more scene for Sherlock and Watson to decide what to do next. In their final scene, they decide to go down swinging, returning to 221B Baker Street and taking as many zombies as they can out with them.

Relationship cards are updated a final time to end the last round. Each player narrates an ending for their own character; this is not a discussion with the others, though they may take suggestions and input from others if they choose.  
Ex. As the last relationship update, Katie and Abby change Sherlock and Watson’s relationship to “brothers in arms, brothers in death.” Each of them narrates a poignant death scene, in which they reach for each other’s hands one last time.


	7. Secret Santa

The secret Santa gift exchange is one of my favorite things both in fiction and in real-life. Secret gift-giving in general is something I love the idea of - picking out the perfect gift for someone is a real thrill for me.

The secret Santa trope is a big one in the overall category of Christmas fanfic, which is pretty popular in and of itself. Something about the holiday just brings out the romance for many of us. And right in between fanfics about snowball fights, ugly Christmas sweater parties, and hot cocoa by the fire, there’s the fanfic about secret Santa.

The set-up is predictable - two characters are (for whatever reason!) assigned to be each other’s secret Santa. You might expect scenes of the characters observing each other or asking their friends what their assigned person would like, scenes of holiday shopping and covertly hiding gifts so they won’t be found too early. And then of course the big reveal as to who the anonymous gifter was.

What You’ll Need:  
2 players  
Index cards  
Pens or pencils  
Tokens or coins

How to Play:  
Pick what fandom you want to play in. If both players are fairly well-acquainted with each other’s fandoms, you could choose to skip this step and pick characters from different properties for an additional challenge.

Each player picks a character from that fandom to play as and secretly writes the answer on an index card, which is kept hidden from the other player. These won’t be revealed until towards the end of the game. Yes, it is possible that you may end up choosing the same character and that’s okay!

Each player will also have two more index cards in front of them - one labeled “joy” and one labeled “sorrow”. These will be used to count tokens after each scene.

Randomly choose or ask one player to volunteer to be player one. Player one will describe a gift that they are giving to player two, keeping in mind that they only know their own identity and not the identity of player two. Gifts can range from the very literal, i.e. “I give you a new pocket watch, with gilt filigree in the pattern of a lion” to the abstract, i.e. “I tell you a secret that I’ve never told anyone else about my time in the army.” Try to describe the gift in some detail.

Player two will describe their reaction to the gift - joy or sorrow. They’ll put a token on the appropriate index card in front of them. They can choose to go into detail as to why they react the way that they do, or they may choose not to, if you want a greater challenge.

Then, player two will describe a gift to player one and player one will mark their reaction with a token. Continue taking turns in this fashion.

When either of a player’s counters reaches five, the other player can begin to guess at their identity. Making a guess as to their identity counts as your whole turn; you may not give a gift in the round that you try to guess the other character. When a correct guess is made, the player whose character was guessed flips their card over to reveal their identity.

The game ends when both player’s identities are known, any tracker hits ten points, or when one player makes their fifth incorrect guess. Play out one final scene in which you reveal your identities and conclude the game.


	8. (Not) Getting Married Today

Weddings are an incredibly rich environment for romance, for drama, and for high stakes. This goes for real life and for fictional weddings! I love weddings, but it’s not a real wedding until there’s an aunt or uncle raging at some supposed slight, a cousin having a drunken meltdown in the bathroom, and at least one flaming disaster that threatens to call the whole day off.

Many fanfic writers like to explore the weddings of their OTPs. It’s a way to look at how they tailor an event to their own tastes, how they interact with friends and family, how they interact with each other, and how they react when things go wrong - it’s a whole lot of everything that many fanfic writers love, including myself. Extravagant descriptions of outfits, meals, cakes, flowers, and impossibly romantic venues are to be expected. 

What You’ll Need:  
2 players  
Tokens or coins (2 per player)  
A deck of cards, index cards and pens, d10 dice (optional)  
A stacking block tower, commercially available as Jenga

How to Play:  
Set up the stacking block tower within reach of both players. Try to arrange yourselves so that it doesn’t block you from seeing each other.

Pick your fandom, and pick the two characters who are getting married today. Each player will play one of these characters throughout the game.

Remove six blocks from the tower and layer them on top, reversing directions with each layer. One steady-handed player can do this, or you can take turns. If the tower collapses at this point, set it back up again.

The game begins first thing in the morning on the wedding day. Randomly choose or select one player to go first. Player one will describe something that goes wrong early in the day - the flower delivery canceled, the makeup artist is sick, the dog got into the dress bag, etc. If you want a zany game, you can go really off the wall with these: the bride got kidnapped, an alien invasion happened, the couple forgot that they had a scheduled assassination to pull off that day.

Player two will describe the severity of the event according to the table below:  
Minor disruption - 1 block  
Moderate disruption - 2 blocks  
Major disruption - 3 blocks

Player one will pull the required number of blocks from the tower and place them on top, again reversing directions of each layer, while describing what they do to stop that problem from taking place or to work around it in some way - calling a new florist, doing their makeup themselves, repairing the dress. This should be something that the character could or would realistically do to prevent anything from ruining their big day.

Keep track of the number of blocks pulled from the tower using a pile of cards (1 card per block), tallies on an index card, or the faces of ten-sided dice, with one representing the ones place and one for the tens place (if you can pull enough blocks and keep the tower standing long enough to get into the hundreds place, please teach me your ninja ways because there should only be 54 blocks).

Take turns back and forth describing events, naming the severity, and pulling blocks from the tower. The day progresses throughout play, with later events taking place just before or during the wedding itself.

When the tower collapses (and if it would be appropriate to do so, you absolutely may knock the tower over on purpose - just be careful not to fling the blocks everywhere please), tally up the number of blocks pulled before the collapse. Play out a final scene based on the results table below:

1-10 blocks: What were you doing getting married in the first place? If you can’t handle the slightest disruptions to your wedding, maybe it wasn’t meant to be after all.

11-20 blocks: Well, there may have been some problems along the way, but you two have made it work. It certainly wasn’t what anyone would call the wedding of their dreams, but you’ll have stories to tell for the rest of your lives.

21-30 blocks: Nothing can come in between you! Your love is so strong that not even the biggest disasters can break you up or ruin your big day.

30+ blocks: A love for the ages! They’ll be telling tales of your wedding through the centuries; you two are a true symbol of lasting love.


	9. Soulmate AU

I don’t know who or what was the first progenitor of the towering monolith now known as the Soulmate AU, but I respect them tremendously. I have a feeling it may have been a tumblr post, to be frank with you. The idea behind the soulmate AU is that the characters of an existing work live in a world where 1) soulmates exist and there is always one right person for everyone, and 2) there is some physical manifestation that tells you who your soulmate is meant to be.

Common ones include your first words to each other appearing somewhere on your body (imagine how many people would have “hello” or something similar), your eye color changes when you meet your soulmate, you can only see in black and white until you meet your soulmate at which point you begin to see in color (a personal favorite of mine), you can see a red string tying you together (a twist on the East Asian legend of the Red String of Fate), everyone has a physical timer that counts down until you meet your soulmate, etc. There are a lot of different takes on it.

Soulmate AUs are kind of cheesy, but they’re a really sweet, romantic kind of cheese that I am a fan of. It’s a very pure expression of the love between two characters - no matter what, they’re meant to find each other.

What You’ll Need:  
2 players  
Index cards  
Pens or pencils  
2 tokens, each a different color or otherwise visually distinguishable from each other

How to Play:  
Pick your fandom and which two characters you will play. Pick the physical manifestation of your soulmate as well, choosing from the examples above, picking your favorite from a fanfic you love, or making up your own. The “countdown” timer is a good starter one if you’re not familiar with this type of trope. The tension and apprehension and anticipation are immediately apparent when you know that you will be meeting your soulmate in three days time.

Set up a row of seven index cards. On the middle card, write “the day we meet”, or something to that effect. On the first index card, write “three days before”. On the last index card, write “three days after”. 

Each card represents one day, the row representing one week. One player will put their token on the “three days before” card, and will work their way along the row in chronological order. The other player will put their token on the “three days after” card and will work their way along the row in reverse chronological order. If you’ve seen the musical The Last Five Years, the structure is not dissimilar (but is less sad).

The first player will describe a scene to play out - with the other player, if they are in the “after” phase, or with an NPC if they are in the “before” phase. Players will take turns framing scenes, then playing them out. A good guideline is that scenes are usually 3-5 minutes in length. Each round, one character will have a scene with an NPC and there will be one scene where they are together.

When your tokens reach the middle of the timeline, play out the scene where you first meet. My real, sincere advice here is to get indulgent with it. Lavish in the moment! Part of the reason I love the idea of only being able to see in color after meeting your soulmate is because the possibilities for the beauty of the moment are immediately apparent - rich, vivid descriptions of color. Let this scene take as long as you think it should.

The game ends after both players reach the opposite ends of the timeline from the one they started on. After you conclude your final scenes, be sure to have a wrap meeting (see Script Change) to discuss how the session went.


	10. Love Triangle

Love it or hate it (and it doesn’t seem like there’s much in between), love triangles are a big fixture of both mainstream fiction and fanfic. One of the nice things about fanfic is that the authors are able to take much bigger risks and come up with much more creative ways of resolving love triangles than the creators of mainstream fiction can.

I know I tend to find myself thinking “you know what would solve this? Dating BOTH of them!” when I’m a lot of love triangles. And that’s way more likely to happen in fanfiction than it is in traditionally published works (though it becomes more likely by the day, as I’ve seen).

This is a three player game about love triangles, because sometimes they really can be fun. A lot of people’s problem with love triangles is just how overused they are to create tension and drama. Apply sparingly and you’ll get much better results. Love triangles - they’re just like cilantro, that’s my motto.

What You’ll Need:  
3 players  
Index cards  
Pens or pencils

How to Play:  
Decide on your fandom and which character each of you will represent from that fandom. You could pick three who have or had an actual love triangle, or three who really really don’t but would be fun to explore anyway.

You’ll also want to decide on the “format” of your love triangle. Not all love triangles are the same! Here are some examples:  
Character A is deciding between characters B and C (aka, original recipe)  
Character A wants character B, character B wants character C, and character C wants character A  
Character A wants B and C, who want each other and not A  
Character A thinks they want character B and not character C, but B and C are actually the same person (classic mistaken/hidden identity)

The game takes place over three rounds, where each player gets three turns per round. Randomly decide who goes first, or ask for a volunteer for the first round. In the next round, the second player goes first, and in the third round, the third player goes first.

On each of your turns, you will take one of the following actions:  
Impress Your Desired One  
Put Down Your Rival  
Change Your Affections  
Help Someone Else  
Discover Something New

On your turn, you will have a scene with one or both of the other characters, or with NPCs (as played by the other players if you wish) as appropriate for the action you picked.

At the end of the third round, each character must Declare Their Affections for one other character. The named character chooses to decline or accept these affections. Play out one final scene in which these declarations take place, with all the appropriate drama and circumstance.

You may also choose to do an “epilogue” scene, which takes place some amount of time later, showing how these decisions have worked out for the characters.


End file.
